A coalition of journalism unions from both sides of the Atlantic has written to the founding trust behind Reuters expressing concern about a merger with Thomson.

The NUJ, Amicus, the Newspaper Guild and the Canadian Media Guild sent a joint letter today to the directors of the Reuters Founders Share Company – the group which is entrusted with protecting the "trust principles" of the global news organisation.

They asked the trust – which is empowered to block a merger – to closely scrutinise the proposed Thomson-Reuters tie-up and ensure it does not compromise Reuters' independence and journalistic integrity.